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3 week old - crying while latching on

My 3 week old has been crying a lot when she tries to latch on to the breast in the cradle hold. When i hold her, she will flail her arms, suck on her fingers, turn her head the other way with her mouth open, squirm and cry loudly. She latches on fine after about 5-10 minutes at most. I dont like to forcefully push her arms back or hold her down so I let her take her time to latch on. I still feel terrible when she still cries like this during each feed. Any advice would be great!

She doesn't cry when we try a reclined infant led breasfeeding position the LC showed us but cant always feed her in that position especially when my breasts feel full and it seems like too much work for her to latch on her own.

Re: 3 week old - crying while latching o

A couple thoughts come to mind:

-Could you be waiting too long to offer the breast? She could be pretty hungry and just confused about what to do. As soon as your baby starts rooting, sucking on hands, fussing, etc., offer the breast immediately (or as soon as possible.) Many babies this age are nursing pretty constantly, so don't worry that it hasn't been long enough since she last ate.

-Try not to hold her hands back. Newborns do actually use their hands to help guide themselves to the breast. I read an interesting article about this; I'll post a link if I can find it.

-What do you think it is about the laid-back position that your baby seems more comfortable with? If you can identify that, you may be able to replicate that in other nursing positions. In the meantime, try to do as much laid-back nursing as possible. My DD really hated being cradled for months and would cry most of the time when latching. I had to just wait it out and she's fine now.

-I wonder if there is some tummy trouble (gas?) bothering her that feels better in the laid back position where she's on her tummy? Are you making sure to burp her after feeds? Sometimes I had to try to help DD pass gas by moving her legs around.